Cooling locomotive boilers



Nov. 21, 1944. H, E. NlKscH COOLING LOCOMOTIVE BOILER www LNVENTOR.

Filed Jan.'16.'1942' v Idil/V uff Patenied Nov. 21, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE t ,-1 'V 2,363,432` i f .e

Y COOLING LocoMoTIvE Bomans n f Harold El Niksch, ohiagdm. Application January 16,1942, serial No. 427,029y 7 10mm. (o1. 12a-+393) A' Thelnece'ss'ity Lfor rapid and uniform cooling of theb'o'iler preparatory to boiler washing and ythe diiiiculty'of accomplishingthat result have bothy increased greatlywith the-coming of the vmodern high pressure locomotives, such as, forv example, the Class S-2, 4-8-4 Type locomotives insanity the'chicago, Milwaukee, st. Paul and Pacific Railroad.y anddsclosedin the Railway Agei,for,April'30,A1`938, page 761, r'and Locomotive Cyclopedia,-1938,jpages.215,216, 217.y Those 'locomotives operate at steam pressure of' 285 pounds and have ya. lire box heating surface of 578 square feet and tubes and flue surface kof v y4931' squarefeet. Steam at 285 pounds pressure "corresponds to ,4171/2" F.

' The customary practice of'iblowing 'off theV v,water and steam throughl the blow-off cock uncovers these great heating surfaces while there {isstillsuiilcient heatpresent to bake on them the 'unavoidable deposit of suspended matter in the boiler water and thus renders it extremely difficult and costly,V if' not impossible, to thoroughly clean the inside heating surfaces, which is 'indispensable toproper maintenance of those highpressure boilers.

" The principal object of this vinvention is to rapidly and substantially uniformly cooly llarge high-pressure boilers while keeping the heating surfacessubmerged until ,the boiler is so thoroughly cooled down that there isnok danger of baking the suspended matter on the heating surfaces.

Generally speaking, this is accomplished as follows:

' (,1) Reduce thesteam pressure to, forl example, 50 pounds, by blowing off from the top of the boiler; y'

',(2)l Introduce cooling Water at, for instance, $120,? through ythe injector branch ,pipe until the Ysteam is all killedfand the boiler filled, and vcontinue introduction of the vWater through the branchvpipe and out at the top of the boiler until the water leaving the boiler is below vsteaming temperature, for instance, at 200 F.;

(3) Empty the boiler through the blow-out cock adjacent to the Amud ring with the aid of a high 'capacity Dump, and

(4) Remove the top Wash-out plugs and begin vwashing as soon as the crown sheet is uncovered, and continue washing the heating surfaces as rapidly as they are exposed.

It is contemplated that this operation 1will be. carried out with the aid of and in connectionV with the more or less standard features of hotv water boiler washing and filling plants that have been in common for many years, the essential features of whichmay be found in the following: Raymer, No. 757,839 April 19, 1904;

Raymer, No. 788,376 April 25, 1905; Gale, No. 831,337 Sept. 18, 1906; Winslow, No. 973,603 Oct. 25, 1910; Miller, No. 1,357,717 Nov. 2, 1930; and

Locomotive Cyclopedia; 1922, page 355.y

Thoseplants, in various forms suited to roundhouses having anumber of radiating stalls and also rectangular .engine vhouses having a number of ystalls and a transfer table, are well known.

y 'embodiment of my invention.

They include a large ypipe adapted to be connected with a ylocomotive for blowing it down and commonly known as the blow-down line, leading yto ablow-downtank and associatedapparatus byl lwhich the heat and ,'water lstored in the Vboiler being blown down is reclaimed. Associated with this system is a washing-out line to supplywater for washing out the'boiler and eitherlthe same or a-,separate llingwater line supplies water for refilling the boiler. Inv addition, many of' the systems include a steam line for heating up the boilers and for bringing them up to steam, pressure after being refilled and maintaining them in steamed condition during storage.

The single figure-of the drawing shows an In the interestof simplicity, vthe, drawing` omits most of the engine house and hot water washing and filling apparatus andiincludes only the essentialparts vshown diagrammatically associatedwith a diagram of a locomotive boiler. But it will beunderstoodthat those features will be readily associated with the various types of hot water boiler washing and lling plants.

In the drawing the locomotive boiler is shown at I0, having a dome Il fitted with 1%" steam valveiIZ, adapted to'be connected with a-drop pipe AI3y by flexible connection I4, such as the 'familiar` Barco joint. The drop I3 is equippedV tle to the bottomfrom which it is blown off l from time to time and in order to avoid taking the lsediment back into the system, Water is drawn from the tank I9 through a pipe 22, the

intake end of which is held up by a float 2'3 and the opposite end is swiveled at 24, to a pipe 25 leading into a tank 26, which may be for wash out water or rell water, according to the preference of the engineer designing the system.

Water from the tank 26 is also drawn off through a iioat suction pipe 2",` leading to the supply pipe 28 of a refill pump 23, which delivers 5 through the upright pipe 30 to the line 3|, which may be either the wash out or refill line running around the engine house and equipped with drops at the respective stalls, one of which drops 32 is equipped with .a vhose 33, adapted to be connected with the'injector branch pipe 34 of the boiler l0.

The pipe is connected with a pipe 35 for tempering water, the ow of which is controlled by thermostatic valve 36 regulated by thermo- 15 static element 31, which may be adjusted ,to regulate the temperature of the Water in the line 3 I, in accordance with the wishes ofthe engineer in charge.

For the purposes of this invention the Y fitting 20 '33' of the injector 'branch pipe 34 is'equipped with la Welded lnipple 39, Which `is .adapted ito receive -either` the connection 40 of the hose 33 or a threaded Wash-out cap, the threads of which are designed toendure-.numerous connections and 25 disconnections The usual drop 4| .connected with the blow- Idown Vline and fitted with a check valve 42 is, :1in `this instance,.connectedby the flexible connecftion 4 3 with `a pipe 44, connected to. the exhaust"L30 of a centrifugal `pump-45, fthe intake side yof lwhiclris connected :with `:the blovwoff cock 46, adjacent tol the mud ring rof Ithe locomotive ;by the flexibleco'nnection v41 antilla pipe 413.` For 'a Ylocomotive of `the class :mentioned a 15H. P. -35

centrifugalpuxnp :having `the'lcapacity :of two 'hundred (200)' gallonsper -minute'is appropriate. When a'locomotive to be serviced has been run into 'a stall, the procedure `with the indicated ap- -paratusl according `to this invention may be as 0 follows:

(l) Connect lthe drop I3 `from the blow-down line "IAB With the 11/2" steam valve 12 on the dome ofthe locomotive, open the valve and reduce the steamrpressu're A'toa selected limit, as for example, A5

pounds.

(2) While the first operation is being performed, connect the'hose r33 xwith the nipple"39 of the `injector branch pipe 34 and as the reduction of lthe steam pressure reaches the selected limit, Istart the ow of `cooling water into Athe A'boiler through ythe branch pipe :34. 'This water will be regulated according :to vthe setting .of the -thermostatic element 131. Some will .prefer one temperature and some another, `but'approximately o .F. will be found satisfactory. `Continue the flowof this Ycooling `water until the steam is all -killed,`the boiler iis filled andthe water has circulated out through the valve ft2 until it reaches a 'temperature below steaming as, for example-i60 `200 F.;stop the flow of water in through the injector branch line;

(3) Connect the pump 45 with the blow-out cock 46 and empty the boiler rapidly, pumping the Water through the blow-down line to the blow-down tank I9;

(4) As soon as the crown sheet is uncovered remove the top wash-out plugs and start washing the boiler; continue Washing the boiler as the heating surfaces are uncovered;

(5) When the Washing is completed, replace the plugs and immediately fill with heated Water. If the Work has progressed properly,as indicated, filling Water at approximately 120 F. Will be found satisfactory. Some engineers however, prefer to use filling water at 180 F. or higher.

The arrangement of the wash-out plugs, etc., has been omitted from the drawing and description in the interest of clearness and brevity, but the necessary information can be had from the Locomotive Cyclopedia, 1938, page 410.

As indicated above, it is contemplated that the loperation vdescribed will be carried on at a number of :different stalls in .an engine house, where the drops, etc., will be substantially as shown in the drawing. A considerable economy, however, Jcan b e leffected yby `o mitting to install a separate ,pump V45 for each stall and by mounting such a pump with the necessary flexible connections, etc., on `a truck 49, which can beconveniently rolled froinone stall to another in use. In large `engine houses` where Vseveral locomotives are to -be serviced at the same time ra vcorresponding number of portable pumps will .be appropriate. Some engineers will object to step 2 of the .above .mentioned `procedure because the superheaters will be flooded as an incident .to filling the boiler .and circulating Water out 'through the dome to the blow-down line. To `overcome this objection the pump 45 may be connected to the blow-olf vcock 46 and startedV in operation after the water levellin the boiler has reached a suitable height and before flooding the superheaters. By this means the `cooling water will be circulated through the boiler, entering through the branch pipe 34 `and `leaving through the blow-off cock 46.l As indicated before the circulation should be kept lup until the water leaving the ,boiler is below steaming temperature, `for example, 200 F. although, lof course, it may be lower if preferred. Some yengineers will incline to favor this modified procedure becauseof the enhanced circulation .over the heating surfaces `of the fire box.` F

What I claim is:

In .apparatus of the class described, an engine house having locomotive stalls, a blowdown line and .a heated water line adjacent to said stalls, .means for connecting the top of a locomotive boiler with the blow-down line, means for vconnecting the branch ,pipe of .the boiler with the heated Water line, a pump, and means connecting the pump with the bottom .of the .boiler and with the blow-down line.

.HAROLD E. NIKSCH. 

